Cooper said one sign in his classroom, “No War Mr. Cooper,” was written by an
Afghani student who had family members killed in
U.S.-led bombings
in Afghanistan, he said.

Barrett said student-made signs in his classroom carried both anti-war and
pro-war messages that were made as part of class assignment.

“The posters displayed the whole range of opinions about the war in Iraq, but
the administration said the pro-war posters were not pro enough,” he said.
“Asking me to take down the posters was taking away the voice of the students
and I was not going to do that.”

Anthony “Ace” Trujillo, the principal who suspended Cooper and another teacher
for not toeing the line on war propaganda, was arrested in
2005 on felony cocaine possession charges, among
others, and soon after resigned his post.

Utah Governor Intent on Testing Tax Law

Salt Lake City (AP) —
The deadline for paying federal income tax passed
Monday midnight, but part of Utah
Gov. J. Bracken Lee’s tax
money rested Tuesday in a safe deposit box
in a Salt Lake City bank.

“And that’s where it will stay,” Lee says, “until a court rules that either I
or the government have a right to it.”

The Republican governor contends it is unconstitutional for the federal
government to use tax revenue to aid foreign nations. By refusing to pay his
tax he hopes to force a court test of this contention.

“There is no provision anywhere in the Constitution granting the
U.S. government
the right to appropriate taxpayers’ money for support of foreign nations,”
Lee said, adding he’ll “fight… in the Supreme Court, if necessary, to prove
my case.”

Last week Secretary of the Treasury Humphrey wrote Lee the government would
“proceed in the usual manner to collect the taxes” if the governor didn’t pay
up before the deadline.

Lee said Monday he believes the “usual
manner” might take some time — probably until after the
November elections.”

“But I’m not going to wait for the government to come to me,” he said. “I
have my attorneys preparing briefs and I expect to take the case into court
in about 50 days. At that time I will ask the government for a declaratory
judgment.”

Lee filed his income tax return last January
but did not enclose the money he owes on earnings other than his salary of
$10,000, which is subject to the federal withholding tax. He declined to say
how much the “other earnings,” mostly from investments, amount to.

“Congress under the constitution has no power to collect and expend taxes for
such purposes," Lee said in a brief which he filed with the court as governor
of Utah and “in behalf of said state.”

Enforcement of federal tax laws in his state, he argued, “is causing not
merely a violation of the federal rights of Utah citizens” but also “a
definited pecuniary loss and financial damage to the state itself.”

In his brief, Lee asked permission to file with the court an original
complaint — an action which could bypass the customary course of litigation
through various lower courts.

Lee said a 1923 supreme court decision
foreclosed the possibility of an individual questioning congressional
expenditures.

“The right of a state, however, to raise such question must exist,” he
contended.

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